Bring us your unhealthy!

 

Come one patient come all!

 

Where do we recruit patients? I mean don’t most health services only want you if you are sick? Am I wrong? I know there’s a lot of money in sick people (anyone read the papers lately). But recruiting?

I did a double-take. I was wandering through Dover (you know the town with white cliffs and a castle?) as I continue to find cheap trips from London. But this sign didn’t quite register at first.

NHS. National Health Service for those who live in England (and for those who don’t know what NHS is). We recruit for jobs. We recruit for businesses. Now NHS is recruiting for patients?

Or is it NHS’ patients are recruiting? Then we would have a problem with the apostrophe rather than the health services.

I can’t believe that is the case.

So NHS is looking for patients? Everywhere else in the world we’re trying to cut-down on patients. Everywhere else in the world the health systems are struggling to keep-up with the demand.

Apparently Dover wants you to come to them. They will take your sick. They will take your patients! So how do you sign-up? Unfortunately the office was closed (it was a Sunday) so I couldn’t ask.

But I could take a pic. I could share it with you. And I could find one place in the world that apparently being sick is something to be recruited for!

“Sight de Rock”

Because today iss….well because it is, it’s about random wanderings. A few years ago (by that I mean ages) a local boy who lives in Canada now, landed on Bermuda’s shores and discovered ….a mystery man!

Where was Oscar (better known as Ozzie) Carrasquillo? He was in…. “Sight de Rock”

Ozzie....Sight the Rock

As Ozzie tells the tale: “It was dusk in the olde towne of St Georges in the fall of 1968. The sun was setting earlier and earlier. Some friends and me were behind St Peter’s Church on one of those little 17th century quaint streets, very narrow.

“We were just talking there enjoying the evening when a rather distinguished looking workman, was passing-by leading a work horse. He seemed to be coming in from the fields from a hard days work.

“I say distinguished because he was wearing one of those striped shirts one would wear with a Buster Brown collar around the turn of the century. We said: ‘Good Evening’ to him and he replied likewise.

“It was a surreal moment because as we were having the conversation amongst ourselves he was included in our’s as he and the horse passed by. As I said the street was very narrow.

“As he turned the corner he said to us “Sight de Rock” and was gone. So we all went to The White Horse Tavern for a bite and a brew and discussed “our friend” from the back of the Church with the bartender.

“He  told us there is nobody around like that these days however, there used to be, quite awhile ago. So who did we see? I don’t know, but I will always remember’ Sight de Rock” ..People Present: Ozzie Carrasquillo, Rudy Fox, Gary Anderson, Kevin Close & Jack Blackwell.”

Queen's Pit Stop

And my random wandering? A pit-stop for the Queen of England . But not recently. Nope. When? 1953. Why? She was tired and as it says: “paused briefly” before she continued a tour.

Where was she? Where is this? Well it’s in Bermuda. That’s your first hint. The second? It’s in Southampton….and probably one of the most random spots I have noticed in a while.

So where Robyn, where? Well let me start by saying I don’t know why she stopped here and did not get run down by cars. Why was I there? No it was not a Royal appreciation tour.

More Bermudian than that. I was….wandering up to Henry the VIII’s for a drink on a lovely evening overlooking South shore. Mounting the hill from the railway trail to Lighthouse Road, I was out of breath!

Boot camp at 7 a.m. had caught up with me. And I decided to stop. There on my left was this random plaque with a gorgeous view of Hamilton Harbour. Now if you’re from Bermuda you have every idea – I was below our Gibb’s Hill Lighthouse on Lighthouse Road (hence the run-over comment for the Queen).

Don’t worry I managed to get over the “shock” and continued to Henry’s for the real purpose of the wander.

Have you had any random wanderings? Home or abroad? Is there somewhere you walk everyday, but suddenly you realized you were walking-by the Queen’s resting place? Or for that matter did you: “Sight the Rock?”